Wat Tyler

Creative Autobiography
for Dr. Vess
6/12/03

Greetings! My name is Wat Tyler, and I’ve been sent to you tonight to give you a message. I cannot explain it, but one minute I was resting in peace, and the next I was receiving a command to speak with you good citizens of America. I was born in 1325 at a time when England’s government had no time for peasants. I myself was a peasant, and this is my story.

You see, I experienced many troubles in my lifetime. Back in 1348 a horrible plague struck my land and my people. I understand that you have named this plague the Black Death, and how appropriate. I lost many friends and relatives to the plague.

Towns were having problems as well. Growth was slow because of the effects of the plague. Townsmen were in a rut. Even the guilds were having problems. The journeymen were not getting promoted. They were stuck. Masters were passing on masterships to their sons. My people wanted to branch out, but the guilds were just too powerful. Also, if you were not part of the gentry, then you were plum out of luck.

In 1381, we began to be taxed heavily. Tensions and tempers began to rise throughout the land. My anger flared as well when a brutal tax collector stripped and assaulted my 15-year-old daughter. I’d never been so mad in my life. I just happened to hear the screams of my daughter and my wife. Well, I just lost it. I took the hammer that I was working with and bashed in his skull. It was not a pretty picture as you can imagine.

The people in Kent praised me as a hero, and elected me as their leader. Remember that the peasants, my people, were extremely unhappy with the way things were. We were not getting paid for our increased work. Oh yeah, we had to work even harder when people were dying of the plague. On top of that, we were issued another heavy tax, and that was the last straw.

A few of my friends and I got together one night in 1381 to discuss a possible peasant’s rebellion. I was surprised to see two priests there, as well, volunteering their people. With their help our numbers grew to 100,000 willing protestors. Here was the plan. We were going to march from Kent to London, which is a good 50 or 60 miles. Along the way were to kill aristocrats and destroy property. We did make a rule, though. We were not to keep anything for ourselves. I know one fellow who was thrown into the river because he kept a silver cup. Poor old chap, but we were serious. We were not going to stop until we got to the King Richard II, who was only 12-years-old at the time, but he was our only hope.

That was the plan, and that’s just what I led my people to do. We did march. We did destroy. We even made up a song to sing. It goes a little something like this: “When Adam delved and Eve did span, who was then the gentle man?” Our point was this: mankind was created to be equal. We wanted the aristocracy out.

As we marched to London, we broke open prisons and beheaded officials along the way. When we finally reached Richard he asked us what we wanted. Our answer: “We will be free forever, our heirs and our lands.” The king actually agreed with us. But then the tables turned, and I met a horrible death. The king ordered the Lord Mayor of London to seize me. That he did do for he stabbed me through the throat and through the belly. There my life came to a halt and ended in 1381. I was 56-years-old.

Watching from a distance with horror on their faces were my people. They had lost me as their leader. They prepared to fight, but our king rode out to them and proclaimed me a traitor. That isn’t exactly the way I wanted to be remembered. I believed that I was doing something for my people. Richard also told them not to worry and that he had their best interests at heart. The fools believed him. My people went back home.

All did not end well though. Many of my people were hanged as rebels. Another king had lied. I hear that your leaders lie to you as well. At least you still have your freedom. It is in that spirit that I must leave you now. It was the spirit of freedom that urged me and my people to revolt. It was for freedom that the Englishmen, Scots, and Irish fought for in the American Revolution against English tyranny in 1776. And remember, they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom.

Bibliography
Fair, John. World Civilization I notes. Georgia College & State University. Fall 2002.

Froissart, Jean. The Chronicles of Froissart. The Harvard Classics. 1914.

Wat Tyler’s Rebellion – 1381 A.D. http://home.earthlink.net/~dlaw70/wat.htm April 9, 2000.